Say Anything Blog

We were told by our political leaders here in North Dakota as they spent every red cent of the budget surplus they started the last legislative session with that North Dakota’s economy is strong and that tax revenues would stay high.  Yet, layoffs continue to happen around the state.  The latest now in Valley City:

John Deere Seeding Company announced that 89 workers will be laid off for the summer at the plant in Valley City.

Barnes County Valley City Economic Development Director Jennifer Fiest says although the lay-offs are not welcome news the company remains optimistic the global economy will turn around this fall.

Fiest says John Deere Seeding use to conduct summer seasonal lay-offs when they first opened in 1995 but over the last three years did not have to due a strong production demand.

Valley City Mayor Mary Lee Nielson says it’s not good news but she also believes the economy will improve later this year.

A company official says the 89 workers should return to their jobs at the Valley City plant this fall.

Here’s something interesting about the article above: Note that the people tracked down for direct quotation on the layoffs weren’t the owners or shareholders in the company, but rather the local “economic development” director and the regional political leader.  Why?  Because that’s how things apparently work these days in North Dakota’s state-run economy.

More and more it’s our political leaders, funneling money to un-elected public/private partnership boards, who pick and choose which businesses will get most favored status with the government and which will not.  It’s the political class, and not the free market, that shapes our economy.  So when one of the businesses promoted by the political class hits the skids, the political class is treated as if they’re in charge.

It’s almost like the business owners themselves are mere political appointments put in place to advance the policy of the politicians.

Maybe that sounds extreme, but I think it’s very much where we’re headed with these foolish economic development schemes.